Monday, 28 January 2013

Terry Udall died on 11th January 2013, aged 84. Terry joined the West of England Bridge club as a young man. This started him on his bridge journey which led him to purchase the Wessex Bridge club in 1963 which he ran for thirty-three years. Over the years the club thrived and was for many years the largest club in Dorset, indeed one of the largest in the South West. It also had most of the top players in the County.

It was Terry’s efforts, aided by his wife, Gigi, that gave the club its deserved excellent reputation; the club met six days a week which meant that there was always bridge available. Terry was recognised as the most knowledgeable and respected director in the area and the sessions were always well organised and ran smoothly.

He played few National events yet achieved the rank of 26 Star Premier Regional Master, being second in the National list for this category.

He became interested in bridge administration and especially with what was known in 1967 as the Southern Counties Association. This was a grouping of the present Counties of Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Wiltshire and the Channel Islands. By the early 1980s Terry was its representative to the EBU and a member of the EBU Laws & Ethics Committee. The growth of the EBU meant that changes had to be made to administration. Among many National changes the Southern Counties re-structured to evolve into its present form of four distinct associations. Terry was there helping in the formation of each.

He was Dorset’s chairman from its creation in 1987 until retiring in 2003. In recognition of these many years of devoted service, in 2005 Terry received the EBU Dimmie Fleming Award. This, he said, meant to him more than any other bridge success.
After retiring, Terry continued playing bridge, primarily with Gigi, and was a regular face at the Bournemouth and Poole Bridge Clubs.

Friday, 4 January 2013

The bridge and golf worlds mourn the loss of one of the giants of both games. Jimmy Ortiz-Patiño died in hospital in Marbella, Spain on January 3. Patiño was president of the World Bridge Federation from 1976 to 1986 and is credited with returning the game to its previous lustre as an honourable pastime. Jimmy was responsible for some of the most important developments in world bridge: introducing the use of screens and bidding boxes; establishing the World Youth Team Championships; bringing China into the WBF; and successfully managing the delicate political situations between the Muslim countries and Israel and of South Africa during apartheid. He was subsequently awarded President Emeritus status by the WBF.

In golf, Patiño was the founder of Valderrama, home to many top European and world tournaments, and in 1997 engineered the first Ryder Cup to be held in continental Europe. Patiño was awarded the United States Golf Association’s Piper & Oakley Award as an advocate of turfgrass research in 1999. Angel Gallardo, the vice-chair of the European PGA Tour, called Patiño “the soul of golf in Europe”. Patiño was the foremost collector of golf and bridge memoribilia in the world.